General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5498
February Session, 2016 *_____HB05498GAE___032116____*
General Assembly
Substitute Bill No. 5498
February Session, 2016
*_____HB05498GAE___032116____*
AN ACT REVISING THE REGULATION REVIEW PROCESS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsections (g) and (h) of section 4-168 of the general statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):
(g) (1) An agency may proceed to adopt an emergency regulation in accordance with this subsection without prior notice, public comment period or hearing or upon any abbreviated notice, public comment period and hearing that it finds practicable if (A) the agency finds that adoption of a regulation upon fewer than thirty days' notice is required (i) due to an imminent peril to the public health, safety or welfare or (ii) by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection in order to comply with the provisions of interstate fishery management plans adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission or to meet unforeseen circumstances or emergencies affecting marine resources, (B) the agency states in writing its reasons for that finding, and (C) the Governor approves such finding in writing.
(2) [An electronic copy shall be submitted] The agency shall submit an electronic copy of the proposed emergency regulation to the standing legislative regulation review committee in the form prescribed in subsection (b) of section 4-170, together with a statement of the terms or substance of the intended action, the purpose of the action and a reference to the statutory authority under which the action is proposed. [, not later than ten days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, prior to the proposed effective date of such regulation.] The committee may approve or disapprove the proposed emergency regulation, in whole or in part, [within such ten-day period] not later than fifteen calendar days after its submission to the committee, at a regular meeting, if one is scheduled, or may, upon the call of either chairman or any five or more members, hold a special meeting for the purpose of approving or disapproving the regulation, in whole or in part. Failure of the committee to act on such regulation within such [ten-day] fifteen-day period shall be deemed an approval. If the committee disapproves such regulation, in whole or in part, it shall notify the agency of the reasons for its action. An approved emergency regulation [,] shall be posted on the eRegulations System by the office of the Secretary of the State [, may be effective for a period of not longer than one hundred twenty days renewable once for a period of not exceeding sixty days, provided notification of such sixty-day renewal is posted on the eRegulations System and an electronic copy of such notice is sent to the committee. The sixty-day renewal period may be extended an additional sixty days] and shall be effective for a period of not longer than one hundred eighty days from the date it is approved or deemed approved and posted. Such one-hundred-eighty-day period may be extended an additional sixty days for emergency regulations described in subparagraph (A)(ii) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, provided the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection requests of the standing legislative regulation review committee an extension of the renewal period at the time such regulation is submitted or not less than [ten] fifteen calendar days before the [first sixty-day renewal period] emergency regulation expires and [said] the committee approves such extension. Failure of the committee to act on such request within [ten] fifteen calendar days shall be deemed an approval of the extension. Nothing in this subsection shall preclude an agency proposing [such] an emergency regulation from adopting a permanent regulation that is identical or substantially similar to the emergency regulation, but such action shall not extend the effective date of the emergency regulation.
(3) If the necessary steps to adopt a permanent regulation, including the posting of notice of intent to adopt, preparation and submission of a fiscal note in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of section 4-170 and approval by the Attorney General and the standing legislative regulation review committee, are not completed prior to the expiration date of an emergency regulation, the emergency regulation shall cease to be effective on [that] such expiration date.
(h) [If an agency finds (1) that technical amendments to an existing regulation are necessary because of (A)] An agency may make technical amendments to an existing regulation or repeal an existing regulation to: (1) Facilitate the statutory transfer of functions, powers or duties from the agency named in the existing regulation to another agency, [(B)] (2) reflect a change in the name of the agency, [(C)] (3) transfer or renumber sections of the regulation to correspond with the transferring or renumbering of the section of the general statutes containing the statutory authority for the regulation, [or (D)] or make a correction in the numbering of the regulation, [and] with no substantive changes made, [are proposed] (4) amend an existing regulation solely to conform the regulation to amendments to the general statutes, provided the amendments to the regulation do not entail any discretion by the agency, (5) update or correct contact information contained in the regulation, or [(2) that the] (6) repeal [of] a regulation [is necessary] because the section of the general statutes under which the regulation has been adopted has been repealed and has not been transferred or reenacted. [, it may elect to comply] The agency may adopt any such amendments to or repeal of a regulation in accordance with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section or may proceed without prior notice, public comment period or hearing, provided the agency has posted such amendments to or repeal of [a] the regulation on the eRegulations System. Any such amendments to or repeal of a regulation shall be submitted in the form and manner prescribed in subsection (b) of section 4-170, to the Attorney General, as provided in section 4-169, and to the standing legislative regulation review committee, as provided in section 4-170, for approval and upon approval shall be submitted to the office of the Secretary of the State for posting on the eRegulations System with, in the case of [renumbering of] transferred or renumbered sections only, a correlated table of the former and new section numbers.
Sec. 2. Section 4-172 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):
(a) After approval of a regulation as required by sections 4-169 and 4-170, or after reversal of a decision of the standing legislative regulation review committee by the General Assembly pursuant to section 4-171, as amended by this act, each agency shall submit to the office of the Secretary of the State a certified electronic copy of such regulation. Concomitantly, the agency shall electronically file with the electronic copy of the regulation a statement from the department head or a duly authorized deputy department head of such agency certifying that the electronic copy of the regulation is a true and accurate copy of the regulation approved in accordance with sections 4-169 and 4-170. Each regulation when so electronically submitted shall be in the form prescribed by the Secretary of the State for posting on the eRegulations System, and each section of the regulation shall include the appropriate regulation section number and a section heading. The Secretary of the State shall post each such regulation on the eRegulations System not later than ten calendar days after the agency submission of the regulation.
(b) Each regulation hereafter adopted is effective upon its posting on the eRegulations System by the Secretary of the State in accordance with this section, except that: (1) If a later date is required by statute or specified in the regulation, the later date is the effective date; and (2) a regulation may not be effective before the effective date of the public act requiring or permitting the adoption of the regulation. [; and (3) subject to applicable constitutional or statutory provisions, an emergency regulation becomes effective immediately upon electronic submission to the Secretary of the State, or at a stated date less than twenty days thereafter, if the agency finds that this effective date is necessary because of imminent peril to the public health, safety, or welfare.] Each emergency regulation shall be effective when posted on the eRegulations System by the Secretary of the State. The agency's finding and a brief statement of the reasons therefor shall be submitted with the regulation or emergency regulation. The agency shall take appropriate measures to make emergency regulations known to the persons who may be affected by them.
Sec. 3. Section 4-171 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):
(a) On or before February fifteenth of each regular session of the General Assembly, the cochairpersons of the standing legislative regulation review committee shall submit to the General Assembly for its study (1) a copy of all proposed regulations which have been disapproved by the standing committee under subsection (c) of section 4-170, and (2) a list by agency of each section of the general statutes that requires the agency to adopt regulations on or before January first of the preceding year which the agency did not submit or resubmit to the committee by December first of such year as provided in section 4-170b.
(b) [Such] Any such regulations that were disapproved by the standing legislative regulation review committee under subsection (c) of section 4-170 shall be referred by the speaker of the House or by the president pro tempore of the Senate to an appropriate committee for its consideration and the committee shall schedule hearings thereon. The General Assembly may, by resolution, either sustain or reverse a vote of disapproval of the standing committee under the provisions of said subsection (c), except that if the General Assembly fails during its regular session to reverse by resolution the disapproval of a regulation proposed for the purpose of implementing a federally subsidized or assisted program, the vote of disapproval shall be deemed sustained for purposes of this section and the proposed regulation shall not become effective. Any action of the General Assembly under the provisions of this section shall be effective as of the date of passage of the resolution in the second house of the General Assembly.
Sec. 4. Section 4-189i of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) Not later than July 1, [1996] 2017, and not later than every [five] seven years thereafter, [the regulation review] each committee of cognizance, in consultation with each agency that is within the cognizance of the committee, shall establish the date by which [the] each such agency shall submit a review of [the] its existing regulations [adopted by said agency] and shall notify the administrator of the regulation review committee of each such date and any extension thereof. In establishing such date, or any extension of the date that may be requested by the agency, the committee of cognizance (1) shall consider the volume and complexity of such regulations and the personnel and other resources of the agency [which] that would be available to undertake the review within the agency's available appropriations, and (2) may establish a schedule of dates for the review of various portions of such regulations upon the agreement of the committee of cognizance and the administrative head of the agency.
(b) Not later than the date specified by the [regulation review] committee of cognizance pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, each such agency shall submit to the committee of cognizance and to the administrator of the regulation review committee a review of its existing regulations, which shall include, but need not be limited to: (1) The agency's recommendations on how it may substantially reduce the number and length of its existing regulations; (2) the agency's determination of whether each of its existing [regulation] regulations (A) is obsolete, (B) has not been used within the preceding [five] seven years, (C) is inconsistent with any provision of the general statutes, federal law or any regulation adopted under the general statutes or federal law, (D) has been the subject of written complaints, and (E) is otherwise no longer effective; and (3) the agency's recommendation, [of] if any, regarding any extraordinary circumstances in which waivers from its existing regulations may be appropriate.
(c) Upon receipt of an agency's review, the [regulation review] committee of cognizance shall [: (1) Send a copy of the review to the committee of cognizance and (2)] schedule a public hearing, [jointly with the committee of cognizance,] which shall be held [within thirty] not later than ninety days following such receipt. The [regulation review] committee of cognizance shall [have] make copies of the review available to the public at least [five] fifteen days prior to the hearing.
(d) Following the public hearing: (1) The [regulation review] committee of cognizance may request the agency to initiate the process under chapter 54 to carry out a recommendation of the agency under subsection (b) of this section to amend or repeal an existing regulation which, in the determination of the [regulation review] committee of cognizance, does not require the enactment of authorizing legislation, and (2) the committee of cognizance shall consider any recommendation by the agency under subsection (b) of this section which, in the determination of the committee of cognizance, [or the regulation review committee,] would require the enactment of authorizing legislation.
(e) If an agency fails to submit [to the regulation review committee] a review of [the agency's] its regulations to the committee of cognizance and the administrator of the regulation review committee as required by [subsections (a) and] subsection (b) of this section or if the [regulation review] committee of cognizance determines that the agency has not conducted a satisfactory review of [the agency's] its regulations as required by said [subsections] subsection, the [regulation review] committee of cognizance may: (1) Conduct a review of the existing regulations of the agency, as described in subsection (b) of this section, (2) request the agency to initiate the process under chapter 54 to carry out a recommendation of the [regulation review] committee of cognizance pursuant to such review to amend or repeal an existing regulation which, in the determination of the [regulation review] committee of cognizance, does not require the enactment of authorizing legislation, and (3) [request the committee of cognizance to consider any recommendation by the regulation review committee pursuant to such review] recommend the enactment of legislation to amend or repeal existing regulations which, in the determination of the [regulation review] committee of cognizance, would require the enactment of authorizing legislation. If the agency fails to initiate the process to amend or repeal an existing regulation pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection, the [regulation review] committee of cognizance may [request the committee of cognizance to] introduce legislation requiring the agency to initiate such process.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2016 4-168(g) and (h)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2016 4-172
Sec. 3 October 1, 2016 4-171
Sec. 4 from passage 4-189i
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
October 1, 2016
4-168(g) and (h)
Sec. 2
October 1, 2016
4-172
Sec. 3
October 1, 2016
4-171
Sec. 4
from passage
4-189i
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(h) "transferring" and "renumbered" were added for consistency, in Section 2(b) "adoption of the" was added for clarity, in Section 3(b), "legislative regulation review" was added for clarity and in Section 4(c), "within" was changed to "not later than" for clarity.
GAE Joint Favorable Subst.
GAE
Joint Favorable Subst.